W. Edwards Deming

W. Edwards Deming (1900-1993), was an American statistician and quality control expert who, finding little audience for his ideas in his native United States, took his theories to Japan in 1947, revolutionizing Japanese industrial practices and helping the Japanese develop the reputation for supremely high-quality manufacturing that they still enjoy today.

Among Deming's numerous useful ideas included the concepts of constant improvement and involving all members of the company in quality control, and the notion that increasing the quality of the product actually reduces rather than increases costs.

Only in later years, after Japan had become an export juggernaut, were Deming's ideas re-imported back to the US, where they have become increasingly influential since the mid-1980s.